The High Court upheld a divorce decree in a Kerry case but changed the financial and related orders made by the Circuit Court. The husband was ordered to pay his former wife €300 a week in gross maintenance, subject to annual adjustment in line with the Consumer Price Index, and a lump sum of €35,000 by 8 November 2012.
Mr Justice Michael Peart delivered the judgment on 13 August 2012. The appeal concerned an order made at Tralee Circuit Court on 18 January 2012. The marriage had been contracted on 7 October 1982, and the couple’s two children were adults.
The Circuit Court had ordered a €50,000 lump sum within three months, with weekly maintenance to rise by €200 if the payment was not made. The High Court instead ordered the €35,000 payment in addition to increased maintenance. It allowed the respondent to return to court if the lump sum was not paid, so that the court could consider whether to make a further order.
The judge said the wife’s earnings had fallen because her hours as a carer had been reduced, and accepted that she had tried to find more work. He found that her maintenance need had increased in that sense and that her husband could afford an increase. The wife had sought €350 a week, a €50,000 lump sum and measures to address her financial security if her former husband died or disposed of the business or land.
The judgment said the husband had built up a profitable caravan park business on land in his name. Under the 1997 judicial separation order, he had transferred his interest in the family home to his wife, discharged its mortgage and paid €4,000 for repairs. The judge noted that there was no pension plan from which a pension adjustment could secure future support for her.
The High Court refused to make an order under section 18(10) of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 barring the wife from applying for provision from her former husband’s estate after his death. Any future application under section 18(1) would be decided by the court hearing it, taking account of the circumstances at that time, including her needs and assets and the €35,000 payment.
The husband was also ordered to give at least one month’s written notice of an intention to retire from the business or dispose of the business or the land on which it operated. The wife may register that part of the order as a caution or inhibition on the land folio. The judge specified that the notice obligation did not give her a charge, ownership interest or share in the business or land.
The court affirmed the divorce decree, varied the ancillary orders as set out in its judgment, and made no order as to costs.